Watch: Elizabeth Warren Delivers Savage Beatdown of Wells Fargo CEO

WASHINGTON, DC — Sen. Elizabeth Warren was visibly in her element Tuesday, as she battered Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf for his accountability or, as Warren accused, his lack thereof, in the company's allegedly fraudulent practices.

The Massachusetts Democrat was one of several lawmakers questioning Stumpf as he appeared before the Senate Banking Committee. The committee has launched a probe into the company's practices after millions of Wells Fargo accounts were opened without the consent of customers, reportedly to meet the bank's aggressive sales goals.

The issue smack dab in the middle of Warren's wheelhouse, a sweet spot for a senator that built a national reputation on her aggressive stance against big banks and their executives in the wake of the financial crisis.

Read More: Wells Fargo Subject of Probe by House Panel Over Alleged Fake Accounts

Barely allowing a word in edgewise as she peppered Stumpf with frequently rhetorical questions, Warren wrapped by telling the CEO he should resign and that he deserved to be criminally investigated by the federal government.

"You haven't resigned, you haven't returned a single nickel of your personal earnings, you haven't fired a single senior executive," she said. "Instead, evidently, your definition of 'accountable' is to push the blame to your low-level employees who don't have the money to afford a fancy (public relations) firm to defend themselves. That is gutless leadership."

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Stumpf, for his part, said little during Warren's diatribe.

In prepared testimony before the committee, he said he was deeply sorry, and that Wells Fargo "failed to fulfill on our responsibility to our customers, our team members, and the American public."

None of the challenges he has been through with the company pain him as much as this one, he told the committee, under oath.

It is not representative of Wells Fargo, Stumpf said, adding that he takes full responsibility "for all unethical practices in our retail banking business."

That was the opening Warren sought, launching the volley of questions and accusations quoted above with the question, "What have you actually done to hold yourself accountable?"

She ended with a familiar call: to institute "tough new laws" and install "tough prosecutors" who can ensure jail time for executives, implicitly including Stumpf, and discourage future "scams," as she called the Wells Fargo practice.

Image via C-SPAN